The Game of Kings
by imprimatur13
Summary: Yugi Mutou and Gilgamesh participate in a Shadow Game.


He stood before his opponent, seemingly unarmed. His eyes gleamed, as he taunted him.

"Come now, King of Heroes. There is nothing you can do against me."

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow. "What do you think to do against me, mongrel? Your tricks will not work here; this is a battle for kings only, and I do not consider a worm such as yourself even human. You are unworthy to be stepped on by the shoe of my lowliest slave. Do kill yourself, that I not have to suffer by being in the general vicinity of your exceeding ugliness."

"HAHAHAHA!" The unarmed man laughed. "Perhaps you were indeed King at one point, but that title is no longer yours, nor has it been for many centuries. It has passed from your hands to those of others, and so on. I'm afraid my own title is now higher, nowadays."

"This impudence." A golden portal appeared in the air behind Gilgamesh's head, undulating as its component spirals whorled around themselves. The sight was dazzling, as each fragment of golden light caught one's gaze, drawing it deeper in. "Behold the glory of Kings, dirt. Let your eyes fall into them, so entranced by their beauty that your pitiful life is snatched from you before you notice it. Now," he smirked, "Feast your eyes on a device that men have longed for."

A spear emerged from the golden portal.

"Gungnir!" Gilgamesh shouted. "I have prepared prey for you. Come, taste of it."

The spear, Gungnir, shot from the portal at speeds surpassing the visual acuity of any human being. Even the unarmed Servant at whom it was aimed could not possibly divine its position nor its destination from sight alone.

"Think you to slaughter me, Gilgamesh?" He said. "Sorry, but it's time...

"To duel."

Gungnir stopped in midair, and began to fade to a host of golden sparks.

"What is this madness?" Gilgamesh said. "How dare you refuse divine punishment by the king upon your miserable self? Disgusting mongrel, forcing me to bring out ever greater weaponry from my infinite stores."

He clucked his tongue, and hundreds of the portals appeared behind him.

"Die," he said.

Noble Phantasms of all kinds emerged, and shot from the portals. Spears, Swords, Arrows, and so on. The rain of steel was deafening, and it all fell around Gilgamesh's opponent like hailstones, burying him in their divine power.

The weapons embedded themselves in the ground, and exploded.

As the sound of the explosion reached Gilgamesh's ears, a cloud of smoke arose and obscured the entire battleground.

He began walking away. "In the end, nothing more than a common mongrel. Well, perhaps Master shall be amused by his antics..." He chuckled. He began to dematerialize.

"Not so fast, King of Heroes."

"What?" Gilgamesh spun around. The smoke was still there, but he could make out a silhouette within its cloud. It was in the shape of his enemy, a Servant like a slender man, with hair spiked up. It was distinctive, and even among mongrels, Gilgamesh recognized it.

"You are now in the grasp of my Noble Phantasm," the Servant said. He raised his arm to the skies, and called out: "Shadow Realm!"

A disk appeared, strapped to his arm. The smoke cleared, and Gilgamesh saw that it was more like a small table. What a base thing to have attached to one's arm.

The environment began to change. No longer the lobby of the Einzbern Mansion, it turned to a land of darkness and despair. Small, formless blobs of muck rose up from the ground all around him, with arms reaching up to grab his feet before collapsing back into the endless pool. It was like the sea of curses vomited by the Grail at the end of the previous War, but altogether more sinister. He did not feel that he could survive in these waters; rather than reinvigorating him, these curses would only rip him apart and suck all the life of his spiritual body.

The mongrel Servant before him had removed the clothes he was wearing, now only clad in leather pants and a vest. His bare chest insulted Gilgamesh with its impropriety; to dress in this manner was unbecoming of anyone save the highest personage in the land. Only the King had the right to bare his chest like that.

This was tantamount to a rebellion, trying to take the power of the throne for oneself from its only rightful holder.

"I know not what trickery this is, Caster, but your impudence shall be swiftly punished." Gilgamesh pointed his hand to the Servant opposite him. "Ea! Arise, and destroy this idiotic Reality Marble."

Yet.

Nothing happened.

"I apologize, o King of Heroes," the Servant said. "My Noble Phantasm is no Reality Marble. I have not transported us to the world of my soul; rather, I have merely transported us to a special realm already existing within the universe, of which you know nothing. In this world, you must play by the rules, or else accept certain death. Obviously, weapons are frowned upon here."

"I've no time for your coprocephalic rules, Caster," Gilgamesh said. "Screw them, for I am the King of all that I look upon. If I cannot use weapons here, I shall have to dispose of you manually. It is truly a grave insult, forcing a King to dirty his hands like a common labourer, but it is something I must do, no matter how unpleasant." He ran towards the Caster Servant, his fist outstretched.

The Caster Servant sighed. "What did I say? Honestly, your lack of decorum is astounding. And someone like you really ruled over all of Man?"

The fires of rage burned in Gilgamesh's heart. Soon, so very soon, he would remove Caster's liver from his body.

Caster pinched the bridge of his nose. "I suppose it can't be helped." He reached into a compartment of the disk on his arm, and pulled something out.

"I activate Swords of Revealing Light!"

A white portal appeared directly above Gilgamesh's head, from which three blindingly white swords emerged and formed a cage around him. He could not even move within them.

Before him, he saw a rectangular image suspended in the space in front of Caster. It had a green border, surrounding an image of those very swords which paralyzed him.

"I suppose it is time for introductions," the Servant said. "Well, your True Name's reputation is such that there is none who does not know it, especially after seeing your Gate of Babylon. My Master is that resourceful, at least. But I would hazard a guess that you do not recognize me? I suppose that is the necessary evil of being drawn from the very beginning of human history on this planet, in the Age of Gods. Modern heroes are all but unknown to the likes of you."

Gilgamesh wanted to snarl at him, but even that was impossible, in this triangle formed by the three vertices of these white swords of light.

Caster smirked. "Well, I suppose there's no helping it. Allow me to formally introduce myself. Gilgamesh, I am Yugi Mutou, King of Games. And in this realm, my word reigns supreme. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to play a game with you. Surely, you had games in your day? Dice, backgammon and the sort? I'm afraid that we moderns have innovated here, too. Modern gaming is such that you have never dreamed, so do try not to stand with your mouth too agape when you begin to play. Even a mind such as yours, primitive though it may be, can be taught to follow its rules.

"Now, bow to the King of Games."

Gilgamesh felt his body collapsing under its own weight. His legs buckled underneath him, and his face hit the ground. His nose bled. The swords were no longer there; in their place, the ground around him was covered with a swirling red sigil. A magic circle?

"How does my Spellbinding Circle feel? Go on, you can speak now. Tell me what it's like, to be shown your place."

Gilgamesh growled. "Even unto death I shall never acknowledge another above me. If a mongrel should grab the throne temporarily through base treachery, that in no way violates the King's superiority. It merely demonstrates the rebel's unworthiness of being ruled by the great King above him. In time, all such as your lowly self shall disappear, but I shall remain." Blood dripped from his nose as he spoke, and sweat beaded on his forehead from the pain of forcing himself to speak, but he could not let this impudent one ramble on unrebuked.

"I see," Yugi said. "In that case, let us have a fair duel. If you win, I shall do as you command me, Gilgamesh. Of course, the reverse will apply in the other event. What do you say?"

"There is no game I cannot play," Gilgamesh said. "If it is a contest of skill, my superior intellect shall crush you. If we rely on luck, my Divine Authority shall ensure the dice fall in my favour. In short, you cannot win." He smirked. "Would you still challenge me?"

"Of course," Yugi said. He took a card from the surface of his arm disk, and placed it back inside one of its compartments. The sigil on the ground under Gilgamesh disappeared, and he could stand easily once more.

He erected himself, and looked at Yugi. "What shall we play, then? I suppose you will have your own imitation of a proper game, that weaklings like you amuse yourselves with?"

"Indeed I do, Gilgamesh." Yugi materialized a disk similar to the one on his own arm, in the air before him. It was gold all over, unlike Yugi's more plain white and blue disk. He grabbed it in mid-air, and threw it at Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh caught it. He examined it. "This gold is impure. I shall not allow it to grace my arm."

"Gate of Babylon," he whispered. A golden table, fit for holding the sumptuous feast of the King of Uruk, appeared before him. With it, a throne of all gold, inlaid with elaborate engravings of Gilgamesh's adventures. The slaying of the beast, Humbaba. His journey to Utanapishtim, who taught him about the land of the living. And at the crest of the chair, was engraved the face of Enkidu. Around this face a wall was raised, the wall of Uruk which he had built.

Gems were encrusted along the arms of the throne. Gilgamesh sat in it, leaned back, and stretched his legs on the table.

"You may do as you wish, mongrel, but it is unbefitting for a King to play a game standing. I shall sit here, and you shall bring me my pieces, or board, or however this silly diversion is to be set up."

"Very well," Yugi said. He took a deck of cards from his pocket, and walked to where Gilgamesh sat. He placed it on the table, and spoke.

"Gilgamesh, this is your deck. Would you like me to explain the rules, or do you feel able to deduce them yourself?"

"I shall learn as I play. No game is new under the sun, and they have all experienced the weight of my rule. Pale imitations, their workings are known immediately to me. Now return to your position, Caster, lest I throttle you here."

"Of course," Yugi chuckled. He went back to where he stood.

"I shall do you the honour of allowing you to go first, Gilgamesh."

"As well you should, worm." Gilgamesh took the deck in his hand, and drew five cards.

He laid them out on the table before him.

"Gilgamesh," Yugi called. "Are you not worried to let your opponent see your hand?"

"Nonsense," Gilgamesh said. "My victory is assured, and it would be a waste of my energies to hold the cards in my hand, or memorize them."

Yugi was silent.

Gilgamesh looked at the cards on the table.

Ancient Friendship. Impenetrable Wall. Royal Treasury. Authority of Kings. Fruit of the Immortals.

"I draw," he said.

He drew the top card of the deck, and placed it before him, above the others.

King of Heroes.

"I summon the King of Heroes," he said.

An image of himself appeared in the empty space between him and Yugi, the battle arena. The image wore the royal garb Gilgamesh himself once wore, when he ruled Uruk with an iron fist. It stood, silent, looking around the arena with contempt.

"I activate Fruit of the Immortals. As long as this Spell card remains face-up on my side of the field, one Monster card I choose cannot be destroyed or returned to the hand. I target my face-up King of Heroes."

A fig appeared in the hands of pseudo-Gilgamesh on the field. He looked at it, and ate it.

After chewing it a bit, he spat out the pit.

"Your move, Caster."

"I draw," Yugi said. He then considered the cards in his hand for a moment.

"Ah," he said.

"I summon Dark Magician Girl."

A girl appeared, smiling. Gilgamesh sneered at the impracticality of her outfit. Was this a magician? She resembled a harlot. Surely, nothing that could threaten his position.

"Dark Magician Girl, attack his King of Heroes!" Yugi stretched his arm out, directing his Monster.

Dark Magician Girl shrugged, and winked. She walked to King of Heroes, who ignored her. She turned to Yugi, shook her head, then turned back to Gilgamesh's Monster. She put her lips close to his ear, and whispered something.

He opened his eyes wide. Dark Magician Girl skipped lightly back to where she had been. King of Heroes kept his focus on her, but stayed put.

"I end my turn," Yugi said.

Gilgamesh drew his card. He looked at it, and a wide grin appeared on his face.

It was his trump card, the one he desired from Fate. And the one he deserved, as the avatar of Kingship in this low mortal coil.

Ea, the Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth.

"I play a Magic card!" Gilgamesh said, voice full of royal surety.

"Oh?" Yugi said. "Tell me, what is this all-powerful Magic card you are pitting against me? Entertain me, now; don't build up all this excitement for nothing."

Gilgamesh scoffed. "Ordinarily, a mongrel as yourself would be totally unworthy of looking upon it, and while I wish I could say a worthy stage had been set, this stage you've prepared is dreadfully dull. Well, so it must be, so it must be. Perhaps in the end I can rescue this disgusting play from its unworthy director.

"I activate Ea, the Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth!"

He raised the card above his head, and a portal opened above his Magic and Trap Zone. From it emerged a weapon of gold, with a circular blade like interlocking buzzsaws. They were dark, with red lines running through them, and as the blades spun the wind around them was sucked in. It was like the air in the room was being sterilized.

The blades spun, and after they had absorbed what they needed, they slowly decelerated under the effect of the frictional chaos within. Once they stopped, the sword hovered to King of Heroes in the Monster Card Zone, and fell to his hand.

Gilgamesh's voice resounded through the void that remained after the action of the blades.

"I equip my King of Heroes with Ea. Now, by its special effect, he can simulate any Field Spell Card that I choose, once per turn. And for this turn, I select the effect of 'Uruk, City of Divine Rule'!"

"Interesting," said Yugi, as the room shifted. The darkness turned to light, the golden light of a powerful sun. It was like a disk, rising behind Gilgamesh's head, and illuminating the World. Ancient stone rose around them, and palm trees sprouted; a thousand years of work and growth simulated in an instant. As dust rose to cover the Divine Mystery surrounding its formation, the city was born in the quiet of the smoke of the dust cloud.

When Yugi and Gilgamesh could see once more, King of Heroes was sat on an ornate throne, looking bored. Ea lay in his lap, idle. Gilgamesh stood at his right, at the top of an impossibly large set of stairs, though there were only fifteen steps.

Yugi and his Dark Magician Girl were at the end of a long white carpet leading to the base of the throne's staircase. They were kneeling, and Yugi had to motivate himself to rise. But no matter how he urged Dark Magician Girl, she lay prostrate.

"What sort of Magic is this?" Yugi said.

Gilgamesh laughed. "Simple, though I should not have to waste my time explaining it to a monkey like you. We are now in the only true City worthy of the name, the Uruk of Sumeria. It is the city I built, in the twilight of eras, when the Gods were withdrawn from this World. Its walls enabled it to act as a bounded field, or perhaps a reality marble, amid the evil chaos and Divine Beasts that roamed the Earth in those days. Its people were secure, able to fulfill the purpose of their existence.

"Service," he said, tongue licking his lips.

"When the Gods left, they left me their power and dominions. I could activate this ability by human worship, a sort of primitive form of thaumaturgy. Binding Divine Spirits through contractual bonds of service in order to work miracles. If you look before you," he gestured above them, to the ceiling, "You will see the aspect of [Worship]."

Yugi looked above, and saw a dark-haired woman floating. Her mouth and limbs were bound, with balls to keep her chained and mute. Her eyes were closed, but he could feel life and desire behind their lids.

"What have you done to her?" He shouted at Gilgamesh in indignation.

"Tch. This is why I can't stand Fakers, those who attempt to usurp the position of King without understanding a thing about dominion. That is nothing, it is merely a vessel. And it is filled with the aspect of the Goddess who desired worship above all things, a mistress of love and war. You might say she represents the original of that slut you tried to use against me."

"This goes against the rules, Archer!"

"In my domain," Gilgamesh said, "The rules are mine to write. Now, King of Heroes, attack the enemy Caster!"

The King seated in his throne lazily lifted his arm, and the sword Ea with it. The sword spun, and released all the pent-up wind that it had collected from the atmosphere. It shot out in a burst of black and red light, striking the foot of the staircase before him.

It became a cloud of chaotic energy, roiling and swirling. A thunderous noise erupted, and out of the cloud arose a slender, winged serpent. It flew around itself in a coil, like a spinning ring without any gaps. Then it straightened itself and flew towards Yugi, attacking him.

It opened its mouth, and though Yugi attempted to protect himself with his duel disk, the serpents jaws were wider. It swallowed him whole, and its poison seeped into his body.

It filled him, and brought its thoughts into his.

_I am the serpent who stood at the door of time, I was born and stole the fruit from the King. I died but did not die, and he captured me and crushed my head under his heel. He brought me within him, and I am he and he is me. There is only one Serpent, and I live in his eyes and his sword. His chaos feeds me and gives me life, and I slither inside him and grant him the sweet death of my poison._

_Now, new one, young King; shall you be brought within us?_

"I... I can't," Yugi said, his words swallowed by the serpent's gastric juices. "I cannot abide by Gilgamesh's standards, and I have my pride as King of Games to protect."

_But can you defy us?_

"I will."

_Be warned that if you do, you will relinquish all rights to [Kingship], for that is my aspect and domain. Can you survive while dying as the King of Games?_

"I..."

_Choose._

The black mud inside the serpents covered Yugi, and as he fought desperately to escape, a final thought came to him.

_I can rebuild Egypt for you, if you become me. There is so little between Sumeria and the Nile Delta. We both possess strong attachment to the age of Gods. We... we can provide you with the return to glory you have always sought. You have tasted life as a Pharaoh... but does not the thought of universal rule appeal, through the very concept of [King] itself?_

"I... Yes. I wish to deny it, but I cannot; it calls me and I cannot refuse. It draws me out and my essence pleads for it. Come into me, and grant me it."

_Rejoice, for your wish will now be granted._

Yugi felt himself pushed by peristaltic action down the body of the snake. On and on, until at reaching the end he felt himself spat out by another mouth. Before him lay the pyramids of Egypt. In concentric rings, slaves bowed before him, and one of their number came to him.

"O Greatest Pharoah, Lord of Worlds and Keeper of Ma'at; what bid thou us to do?"

He looked up, and saw the snake coiled around the apex of the pyramids. They were arranged as an equilateral triangle, and the area within was walled off by the circle circumscribed around the vertices formed of the pyramids. It spun and the chaos boiled within.

Yugi turned to the head slave.

"Lead your men to that cloud, that red cloud."

"But... Your Majesty, that is the domain of the evil God Seth! If we enter it, we shall be transported from this World, and the balance of Ma'at shall be destroyed. The land will fall, the Nile will overflow, and death shall come to all!"

"You have no authority to countermand me, slave!" Yugi shouted. "Do as your nature befits."

The slave hung his head, turned around, and began walking. As he walked the lonely road, the other circles of prostrated slaves rose up, one after the other, to follow him to the chaos. As they entered it, they were swallowed by it.

Black mud flowed out the top of the cloud, like an erupting volcano. It came down the sides of the pyramids, and flowed over the land.

It reached Yugi's feet, and rose.

_Yes, this is what I have desired,_ he thought.

He touched his face, and felt the black raised streaks; the signs of Divinity he had been granted by the snake. They had penetrated to his brain, and he felt the power within.

He wanted to sacrifice all of Creation to the Snake, and gain more and more power and Royal Divinity in exchange.

As the pyramids, slaves, and Yugi himself were overrun and drowning in the black mud, he whispered.

_Thank you._


End file.
